The Wayland Middle School Wellness Department is
excited to announce that the Wayland Public School Foundation has approved the
Getting Centered Guided Meditation grant. We have the honor of having Helen Rainoff
train the Wellness staff, as well as teach the students the powerful tools and
benefits of meditation. Helen was a Science and Biology teacher at Wayland
High School from 1978 - 2010 so she is very familiar with the Wayland
community. She has been trained in meditation and has had a daily
meditation practice for over 28 years. While teaching at WHS, Helen
integrated teaching meditation into her work with students, offered
professional development programs for staff and offered meditation classes for
the entire school community during High School Winter Week.
The first class will consists of talking about the benefits
of meditation and discuss what experiential guided meditation is. Students will also discuss and identify
stressors, and explain how the body reacts to stress. Students will be taught stretching exercises
before meditation, and how to focus on the breath, muscle relaxation and guided
visualization aspects. The second class
will discuss other non related mediation relaxation tools. Muscle relaxation, breath control, and focus
meditation will be discussed and taught, as well as talking about ways to include meditation and mindfulness into every day. The
third class will be taking the information and tools learned and putting them
into practice during class.
Meditation offers several benefits to children. It will not only enhance their educational
experience, but it will hopefully also inspire students to take the knowledge
and tools learned and apply those valuable lessons into their everyday
lives. This creative program will add
versatility and enrichment into the curriculum.
Some of the benefits of
meditation are:
•"stress-relieving
practices to calm the mind and release physical tension”
•"helping kids boost
awareness and control their moods”
•"help to curb kids’
impulsivity”
•"research has also
shown school mindfulness programs to be effective in reducing symptoms of
depression and anxiety among adolescents”
•"mindfulness programs
can aid kids in developing good habits that will help make them happier and
more compassionate”
•"greater emotional
stability and improved sleep quality, heightened feelings of compassion and
greater success achieving weight-loss goals”
•“meditation can improve
focus”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/meditation-for-kids_n_3318721.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/young-brains-benefit-meditation/story?id=19217997
Middle School students deal
with the stress of school, and the many aspects of life on a day to day
basis. If given the tools needed to be
able to meditate, they will be able to reduce their stress levels and focus on
the important, essential parts of life.
This knowledge and outlet will allow students to grow to their optimal
level and potential.
The Wellness Department thanks the WSPS for this
wonderful opportunity to incorporate meditation into our curriculum.
